CONLEY COMMENTARY (WSAU) – If you haven’t seen it, you should watch the movie 12 Years A Slave. The winner of the Best Picture Oscar for 2013 is the most brutal depiction of slavery in the United States ever filmed. You will be appalled that human beings were treated that way.
One of many disturbing scenes is the where the assistant plantation overseer John Tibeats sings the song ‘Run, N-word, run” to the new slaves. It a warning about what happens to slaves that dare to run away. They’re told “the pattyroller’s gonna catch you.” That’s colloquial slang for a slave catcher.
So how could such a song would appear in a school district play?
But it happened, during a grade school production called ‘Dreamers’ in the Tomahawk School District. The N-word was not used. And the music teacher who put the stage show together said she found the song from a non-for-profit music label from the Smithsonian Institution. She claims she was ignorant – and ignorant is the right word – of the song’s connotations.
A mother of two bi-racial children complained. One of her daughters was onstage while the song was performed. Another was in the audience.
The school district has acknowledged that the incident took place. They’re wrong in describing this as a complaint from one family. This is universally offensive. An all white audience should have been appalled.
Now the question is what to do about it. And I’m rarely at a loss for ideas. 12 Years A Slave is not appropriate viewing material for grade school children. A lesson about the brutality of American slavery probably can’t be presented to 4th graders. I’m shocked that a teacher has such a racial blind spot – although I’m sure there are many areas where I’m culturally unaware too.
Are these children damaged for life? No, of course not. But somehow they need to be taught that they were part of something inappropriate. And I’m not sure what the right tools are to teach them. And the people who run the school district need to be aware that fair-minded people can agree that this was a mistake from not-knowing. But this is also a case where not-knowing is incredibly harmful and is difficult – maybe impossible – to undo.
Chris Conley
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